Going, going, gone wild – Jesse Owens' 1936 gold medal sold for $1,466,574 at auction on Sunday, December 8, setting a record for the highest price paid for Olympic memorabilia. This medal is considered one of the most important in Olympics history and is one of four Owens won at the 1936 games in Berlin, spoiling Adolf Hitler's planned showcase of Aryan superiority.

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Going, going, gone wild – Norman Rockwell's painting "Saying Grace" sold for $46 million on Wednesday, December 4, at Sotheby's American Art auction. It was a record for works by the late artist and for a single American painting. The illustration originally appeared on the Thanksgiving issue cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1951.

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Going, going, gone wild – For the first time since 1947, and only the second time since the 19th century, a copy of the first book printed in America will be sold at auction. The Whole Book of Psalmes -- universally known as The Bay Psalm Book -- was produced in the virtual wilderness of Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Congregationalist Puritans.

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Going, going, gone wild – Titanic band leader Wallace Hartley's violin sold for $1.7 million at Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers in Devizes, England, on Saturday, October 19. The sale price was far higher than expected.

Going, going, gone wild – This 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 recently sold at auction for $30 million in England. It was part of a group of race cars that won nine of 12 Forrmula 1 World Championship-qualifying races during 1954 and 1955 and was driven by Juan Manuel Fangio.

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Going, going, gone wild – The October yearlings sale at Tattersalls auction house in England saw a number of auction records broken in brisk trade.

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Going, going, gone wild – A 118-carat white diamond is on display at Sotheby's, a New York auction house, on September 4. The oval stone was auctioned off in Hong Kong on October 7 for a record $30.6 million.

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Story highlights

"Saying Grace" first appeared on a Thanksgiving issue of The Saturday Evening Post

It shows an elderly woman and a small boy praying in a crowded restaurant

It sells at auction for $46 million -- a record for the late artist Norman Rockwell's work

Sotheby's says it's also a record price for a single American painting

Norman Rockwell's painting "Saying Grace" sold for $46 million -- a record for works by the late artist and for a single American painting -- Wednesday at Sotheby's American Art auction.

Rockwell is remembered most as the illustrator of The Saturday Evening Post, where he captured Americans' day-to-day lives.

"We are thrilled -- it's a really great moment for American art and for Rockwell," Elizabeth Goldberg, head of the American Art Department at Sotheby's, said.

"Saying Grace," which features a boy praying with an elderly woman in a crowded restaurant, was originally estimated to go for $20 million before the auction. The selling price nearly tripled Rockwell's previous auction record, "Breaking Home Ties" which sold for $15.4 million in 2006, according to Sotheby's.

Seven of Rockwell's paintings sold Wednesday came from the family of Kenneth J. Stuart Sr. -- a longtime friend of the artist, and art editor at The Saturday Evening Post -- and nearly totaled $60 million, according to Sotheby's.

The other top two Rockwell sales were "The Gossips," which had a pre-sale estimate of $6 million to $9 million and sold for a little under $8.5 million, and "Walking to Church," which had a pre-sale estimate of $3 million to $5 million and sold for a little over $3.2 million.

"Saying Grace" originally appeared on the Thanksgiving issue cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1951. The painting hung in Stuart office and later on was transferred to the family dining room, according to Sotheby's catalog.